SACRAMENTO — Ten people charged in an alleged plot to overthrow the communist government of Laos pleaded not guilty Monday to conspiracy charges that could bring them life in prison.

The brief proceeding in U.S. District Court followed a grand jury indictment last week against Vang Pao, a 77-year-old former general in the Royal Army of Laos, and nine other members of California’s large Hmong community.

Also charged was Harrison Jack, a 60-year-old former Army Ranger who led covert operations and worked with Hmong fighters during the Vietnam War.

One of the alleged conspirators, 48-year-old Dang Vang of Fresno, was arraigned Friday and also pleaded not guilty. He did not appear in court Monday with the others.

The charges continue to reverberate throughout the state’s Hmong community, which is concentrated in the Central Valley and includes thousands who fled following the 1975 takeover of Laos by the communists.

On Monday, an orderly crowd of 1,200 to 1,500 demonstrated outside the federal courthouse in Sacramento and the state Capitol. Many Hmong said they feel betrayed that the U.S. government has not done enough to stop the persecution of Hmong in Laos and now is turning on their leaders in the United States.

“This is a long story that has to be told from the beginning,” attorney William Portanova, who represents defendant Lo Thao, 53, of Sacramento, said outside the courthouse. “And the beginning is not in January ’07; the beginning is in 1951. That’s where we’re starting. And when the story’s told, they’re not guilty.”

Judges have refused to set bail during previous hearings, saying each defendant could be a flight risk or pose a danger to society.

Attorney Shari Rusk argued that her client, Chue Lo, should be released because he simply attended two meetings as a clan leader.

She acknowledged that weapons were displayed at one of those meetings but said Vang Pao is so influential that her client had no choice but to attend.

“It’s beyond ‘If the president of the United States asked you to go, would you go,'” Rusk told Magistrate Dale Drozd. “It’s not even a decision. There’s no question about it.”

Drozd postponed a decision on whether Rusk’s client could be released.

The indictment alleges that Chue Lo was among those present during a Feb. 7 meeting at a Thai restaurant in downtown Sacramento. The alleged conspirators were meeting with a person they thought was a weapons broker but who actually was an undercover federal agent.

After leaving the restaurant, they examined a truckload of weapons that contained samples of AK-47s, M-16s, C-4 explosives, anti-tank rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and Claymore mines, according to the indictment.

The 10 defendants who appeared in court Monday were previously charged under federal complaints, which were replaced with the federal grand jury indictment that was issued Thursday.

All 11 are charged with conspiring to violate the Neutrality Act against a nation with which the United States is at peace; conspiracy to kill, kidnap and maim; conspiracy to possess firearms and destructive devices; and conspiracy to export munitions without a State Department license.

Federal prosecutors say the defendants intended to buy nearly $10 million worth of weapons. All except Seng Vue and Chue Lo also were charged with conspiracy to receive and possess Stinger missile systems designed to destroy an aircraft.

Earlier this year, Jack, a former California National Guard officer, sent an e-mail to friends suggesting the Lao government was planning mass killings of Hmong remaining in the country. That apparently was the genesis of the alleged overthrow plot.

Many Hmong have fled to Thailand, where they live in refugee camps. Those who came to the United States are concentrated in California, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

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